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The baptism of Ann in Houghton Le Spring confirms the pattern seen in Ireland. Ann let her name slip to the dominant spelling as she grew up in England but older sisters born in Ireland stayed faithful to the spelling they knew as children. There does not seem to be any literature that would relate spelling variants to different locations or clan origin. However, my own study of the church registers there have exposed a family in one particular area that preferred this spelling over the dominant spelling. I think this is the family of origin for my Ann Carrol but it would be unwise to settle on the conclusion without more proof.

-DC   

Hi all,

St Michael Roman Catholic Church registers at Houghton-le-Spring

I wonder if anyone has (a) free n easy access to this register and can look up some names for me, OR (b) provide me with a suitable link to this document OR (c) simply advise me of how else I can get access to this register short of getting on a plane and flying to the UK.

Interested in any activity 1845-55 that might mention Carrol or Carol or Caroll (as distinct from the standard Carroll). Including presence at weddings, or sponsorship at baptisms. 

I have asked about Carrolls in Durham a long time back but that was a more general query and did not pay attention to the unusual spellings.

Your advice is welcome.

-DC

     

Hello people,

my first time posting on this particular page, so I hope this request is acceptable.


I am looking through the Baptism register for Mohill (as seen on the NLI page).

I understand the structure of a typical baptism record but I'd like some advice on the finer clues that can be seen tucked in around the basic structure.

[typical format]

- Day of month
- "Bapt" 
- first name of child
- surname of child
"fils" (or similar)
- first name of father
- first name of mother
- maiden name of mother
"sp" (or similar)
- sponsor1 full name
- sponsor2 full name
- fee (usually 2 shillings & sixpence)

That is usually where the record ends but occasionally there are initials after the sponsor names that I believe correspond to the man conducting the ceremony (JW Evers, Phil O'Reilly or James Smyth for example).

And sometimes a whole line consists only of a statement like "Thos Smyth Settled" which I interpret to mean that the fee or fees for several baptisms have been collected by someone out in a rural chapel and then brought into town to the parish HQ where the fees are received and recorded.

And sometimes there are batches of records that are out of chronological sequence - a slip in time so to speak - which I interpret to be records transcribed from one of the churches outside of Mohill town. I have read that they existed in Clonmorris, Clonturk and Cavan. Also that there was a fellow named Thomas Smyth who would travel around the region and conduct baptism ceremonies wherever needed and would return with the fee for registration in the Mohill register.

So I am trying to interpret these clues in order to see where baptisms for some of my relatives occurred. For example, would the initials after a record [JB POR TS etc] indicate where the parents chose to baptise their newborn? And would a timeslip reveal which of the several regional churches is represented on that page?

My 3G grandparents baptised four children in Mohill and I can see these events recorded in the book. But DNA clustering suggests they lived upcountry near the boundary with Kiltubrid rather than in the town. Can the small details of the Baptism record reveal where they lived?

-DC

I should add that the references to St Hildas in South Shields strikes a nerve as this is the same parish where my known Sanderson ancestors lived in the 1850s-60s.

One of my known Sandersons was a William Sanderson born 1825 who became a mariner and disappeared, presumably at sea or in some foreign land by 1850. Not to say that this is the same fellow as our Captain in Quebec but it shows the possibility of a merchant navy tradition in our 'clan' and a fondness for the name William. His father, born c.1798 in Sunderland, was another William. Not a mariner but a simple farm hand.

-DC

I spent some time focused on the cemetery itself and its 'residents'.

It is a cemetery within Quebec City, now closed and turned into a park.
It was operational from the 1770s to 1860.
It has more than a thousand graves of which only 314 are named.
It served the protestant community in a predominantly catholic society: Presbyterians and Anglicans.

None of the other named graves are Sandersons.
This suggests he had no family there, either by birth or marriage.

There were burials the day before and the day after Capt William
but they are not seaman.

Looking more broadly I could not find evidence of a spate of burials in July 1842
that would suggest a disaster of any sort.

I think this is telling us that William was not local but he was non-catholic.
This is consistent with a man who could have been born in Sunderland where the ship was built
who practised his faith in a Presbyterian community (Wearmouth was such a place). That is the place where my own Sanderson DNA resided in the 1790s.

DC